Marriage Monday: Are You Your Spouse’s Publicist?

Last week when when I was reading Thriving Family Magazine, one article title caught my eye: Become Your Spouse’s Publicist.  In the book world, a publicist is one who advertises and promotes books.  It got me thinking…Do I more often give my...

Marriage Monday: Life-Giving Grace

As we were driving to church recently, we heard Renee Swope with the Proverbs 31 Radio Program refer to grace-giving in marriage as being similar to how cartilage protects the joints in our body.  The cartilage in between joints keeps the bones from rubbing...

Marriage Monday: A Vacation for Two

We’re posting this Marriage Monday from the Fairfield Inn in Boston.  It’s the last night of a five day vacation for two that we took exploring the coast from Boston to Bar Harbor, Maine.  Once in Maine, Mark officiated a wedding for some...

Marriage Monday: The Three Question Technique

Years ago Mark and I were introduced to the concept of the Three Question Technique.  This communication concept helped us deepen our conversations and get out of the rut of short answers that kept conversation at surface levels. Mark says… When Jill and I were...

Marriage Monday: You need a date everyday!

Today’s Marriage Monday is about the importance of daily dates. No, we’re not talking about dinner and a movie everyday, we’re just talking about intentional times that we connect everyday with our spouse. Mark says…I can tend to get really...

Marriage Monday: You Got That Lovin’ Feelin’

Note: For those who receive my blog by email, you will get Marriage Monday on Tuesday morning.  Blogger was down all day Sunday and Monday and I was unable to post until Monday afternoon.  So better late than never…here’s this week’s...

Marriage Monday: Let’s Get Away Just the Two of Us!

Today’s Marriage Monday is a continuation of the challenge I made and the accompanying giveaway I announced last Wednesday.  If you missed that post, you can read it here.It’s important for husbands and wives to step away from the everyday and spend...

It’s the Marriage Getaway Giveaway!

Mark and I just returned from 48 hours in Orlando, Florida as part of the Celebrate Family tour with Focus on the Family.  It was so exciting to meet some of our Florida blog and Facebook friends!This was a little getaway for just the two of us.  Sure there...

Marriage Monday: Scheduling Sex

Mark teases that Is There Really Sex After Kids? is the book he’s most astonished that I wrote.  He has reason to feel that way because our physical relationship was at the core of much of our marriage conflict and frustration for the first 10 years of our...

Marriage Monday: Love and Respect

Several years ago Mark and I were introduced to a great marriage book by Emerson Eggerichs called Love and Respect.  This book transformed our thinking in many ways. The book Love and Respect is based upon the Bible verse from Ephesians 5:33 which says,...

Marriage Monday: Date Your Mate

When Mark and I found ourselves sitting in a counselor’s office around year 7, we found that we’d made a very big mistake.  We’d put our kids before our marriage.  We also learned this was no more healthy for our marriage than it was for...

Marriage Monday: Making It Through Tough Times

When Mark and I speak together on marriage, we introduce ourselves as being married “27 years…17 of them happily.”  It’s a description we wish weren’t true, but unfortunately it is.  Our marriage has had plenty of ups and downs....

Marriage Monday: We’re wonderfully incompatible!

Today I’m starting what I hope to be a weekly feature on my blog: Marriage Monday.  Mark and I speak and write together about marriage.  Each Monday we’ll share about a common marriage struggle and how we’ve learned to handle it.  You...

Valentine’s Day ideas for Hubbies Who Need Help…

It will be here before you know it. Valentine’s Day. The day you get to tell your wife how much she means to you. Husbands, before you run out this afternoon to pick up your Hallmark card or that beautiful heart-shaped diamond necklace that’s been...